Posted
by
samzenpus
on Sunday December 09, 2012 @10:18AM
from the remember-this dept.

First time accepted submitter Press2ToContinue writes "Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the use of a pacemaker-like device implanted in the brain to treat the symptoms of diseases like Parkinson's, or other maladies such as depression. For the first time in the US, surgeons at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland have used this technique to attempt to slow memory loss in a patient suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The fornix, a vital part of the brain that brings data to the hippocampus, is being targeted with this device. Essentially, the fornix is the area of the brain that converts electrical activity into chemical activity. Holes are drilled into the skull, and wires are placed on both sides of the brain. Then, the stimulator device pumps in small and unnoticeable electrical impulses upwards of 130 times per second. Half of the patients will begin the electrical treatment two weeks post-surgery, but the other half won't have their pacemakers turned on until a full year after the surgery to provide comparison data for the study."

CPS used fraud in a commercial tribunal to "legally" kidnap my children citing "risk of future emotional harm". I have never been arrested, charged, tried or convicted of any crime. I get to see them eight times a year for one hour at a time. IF it suits CPS to allow me to do so. It was during one of these "contact" sessions in 2010 that an unprompted disclosure was made. CPS immediately STOPPED further contact, and I had to drag their arses through a commercial tribunal to *see my own children*. I still do not have letterbox or telephone contact, nor do I even know what schools they go to, although I do know that they have been separated, and the older two are being pumped full of psychotropic drugs.

Seems more Count of Monte Cristo-esque to me. A group of people conspire against an individual under the letter of the law, and when the true victim wants to get back at them, we systematically brand the victim as evil and senseless. Though to be fair, the only affirming righteous retribution I can see is working toward fixing the system and getting justice against whoever railroaded Tastecicles.

This is a really interesting thread. I mentioned my problems elsewhere but I look like a whining baby compared

I was with you except the "righteous retribution" part. (I even modded you up before checking that, haha) Depression is such an abused term, seldom used for people with something chemically wrong with them. Some individuals are just terrible at letting things go -- it's always been that way and always will be. I'm one of them.

That said, when I'm wronged, the hatred for those who wronged me does fuel me -- but not for righteous retribution, but to: prove them wrong, show them up, surpass them, surpass their

They treated my mother and brother the same way. Waited for a psychotic episode (proper term would be a VERY extreme mixed-state). Have family members agree the individual is a "risk to themself or others." Police bring individual to hospital. Treat individual with anti psychotics and lithium. Worked relatively well for my mother. I think she only went to the hospital 2 or 3 times. She has been holding a steady job, presumably enjoying life witho

Being introverted is different from being depressed. A very introverted person (someone who doesn't interact with the outside world) is may appear depressed to a lot of people since most humans tend to run towards the middle of the introversion / extroversion axis. Extremely extroverted people tend to be regarded as 'crazy' or some other pejorative. But said introvert can be happy and feel that life is good in that respect.

A hallmark of depression is increasing introversion - a breaking of ties to the external world, but the normative curve for introversion is pretty broad. On top of that, different societies have different tolerances for all sorts of human personality traits so it gets... complicated.

Introversion is not unhealthy. Being introverted means preferring a small group of close friends over a wide group of more casual friends. It is not the same as agoraphobic, which is what many people wrongly conflate introversion with. They are not the same thing.

Introverts tend to be more creative and intellectual; would you seek to 'fix' them all with mental electroshock therapy (logical fallacy used deliberately)? Differences are fine. I have no problem with fixing serious diseases with techniques such a

Well, that's not generally true. Depressed individuals score lower on assessments of health or happiness. Depressed individuals have higher rates of illness across the board. There seems to be some indication that depressed individuals are more creative and / or productive and again, you have the issue of a fairly broad and imprecise definition of depression (or normal for that matter) but most people would 'fix' their depression if given the chance (and given effective means of doing so).

And here's why. It only captures one snapshot in time, and that snap shot has relatively low resolution(poor questions).

Now let's make a big assumption, and assume the MBTI test has great resolution (great questions) on Introversion/Extroversion. It can tell exactly how introverted someone is at a PARTICULAR MOMENT IN TIME. Then, the people who made the test, assign you to a unique category.

Now could you use this in a happy healthy brain to become even more happy and healthy?

All you need to do, is to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain: "It is popularly thought to be a contributor to feelings of well-being and happiness", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin [wikipedia.org]

I know you're just being flippant regarding depression in Alzheimer's, but one of the big problems with Alzheimer's can be what you do remember. It's not total retro- and anterograde amnesia. My great-uncle developed dementia after a stroke, and was somehow forced into nearly constantly reliving his part in the battle of Stalingrad and subsequent interment in a Russian POW camp. He was unable to recognise some of his own family but remembered more than enough of the events of WW2.

The only thing that terrifies me more than getting something like Alzheimer's and being robbed of my memories and experiences and personality is the idea of having any form of brain surgery. Thinking about this story is the kind of shit that keeps me up at night.:)

My father went through Alzheimers. He knew that he should know something and could not recall it. It's a horrifying disease and the person knows it (at least for the first few stages.) At the end, maybe you're right. But you have years of misery before that point.

Could this work on politicians? If anybody needs a brain pacemaker, it would be them.

Not sure of this particular tech, but I think you need higher cortical functions in order for this to work. Most politicians seem to be moved only by the basest of emotions and certainly not logic or other 'higher' functions. In short, I don't think there is anything to 'pace'.

Now, an AICD [wikipedia.org] implanted in the brain. That's another thought entirely. One that I kinda like. Fills me with all sorts of tingly joy.

"Essentially, the fornix is the area of the brain that converts electrical activity into chemical activity."

That is an egregious description of the fornix. All of the brain's electrical activity is electro-chemical, and the fornix has no special role that relates to converting electrical activity into chemical activity.

The fornix is a bundle of axons (i.e. a white matter tract) that connects the hippocampus with the hypothalamus.

Essentially, the fornix is the area of the brain that converts electrical activity into chemical activity.

This description is complete balderdash (not Slashdot's fault -- the poppycock is taken verbatim from the original article). I can say so with some authority since I have an earned doctorate in Neural Science, with a specialty in neuroanatomy.

The fornix is a fiber tract from the septal nuclei to the hippocampal formation, a region associated with long term memory storage. Fiber tracts do not particul

This sounds like the M.O.M. (Mind Over Matter) implants for the "Crazies" OCC from the Palladium "Rifts" dice-and-paper RPG.

Where electrical implants to stimulate the brain to treat mental-illness were found to have the unintentional beneficial side-effect of stimulating latent psychic powers in patients... which naturally (this being an 80's cyberpunk-with-magic hybrid RPG) led to weaponization.
However, the implants used to artificially stimulate psychic super-powers in psycho-normative people, would